


Of Songs & Ice

by darthpenguin27



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Crack, F/M, Heartsong-mates, Incubation, Kissing Cloacas, Kylo Renguin, What If They Were Penguins?, reylo au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 13:02:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29189736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darthpenguin27/pseuds/darthpenguin27
Summary: Rey, an orphan penguin, has been calling out her heartsong in search of her lost parents since she was a young chick. When a response finally comes from an unexpected source, will she accept the answers it brings?
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Of Songs & Ice

**Author's Note:**

> A 40th birthday gift for my sweet wife: my heartsong is yours for always!
> 
> CONTENT WARNING: Contains accurate depictions of penguin mating behaviors.
> 
> Seriously, if you don't know what a "cloaca" is, read this first:
> 
> https://www.livescience.com/40874-animal-sex-penguins.html

###  **I. Winter**

It was snowing the first time she saw him. Flakes danced like ghosts in the pale moonlight, the only illumination of the long, dark winter. A tall, black figure moved across the jagged icescape, waddling inexorably closer with each step.

A frigid wind bit at her feathers, carrying with it the sounds of vicious waves pounding against the distant shore.

Turning her back to the wind, Rey eyed the approaching stranger.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone,” he admonished. “It’s not safe.”

“I’m waiting for someone,” she replied, shifting her weight from foot to foot.

“They’re not coming back,” he stated, gazing past her toward the far away ocean.

Her beak tightened. “Do I know you?”

“I know you,” he declared, looking deep into her eyes. “You’re so lonely…so afraid to leave. At night, desperate to sleep…you imagine an ocean. I see it…I see the island.”

“Get out of my head!” 

He waddled another step closer. “You have something that doesn’t belong to you,” he asserted, voice deep and menacing as an orca song. “You’re going to give it to me.”

Rey’s flipper unconsciously gripped the item tucked within her tail feathers. “I’m not giving you anything!”

“You know I can take whatever I want,” he insisted, icy breath hanging in the air between them for what seemed like an eternity.

Suddenly, a flash of red as he spun and ignited his fish saber! She responded on instinct, drawing her own, blue saber. Their blades clashed mere inches from her face, the weapons’ heat a welcome respite from the bitter cold. She was awed by the raw power with which he pressed into her and struggled to maintain her grip.

“You need a teacher!” he snarled. “Give me the fish of Rockhopper and I will show you your destiny!”

A part of her wanted to give in. To let go and give herself to whatever he would make of her. Rey gathered all of her will to shove that part back into the darkness dwelling in the recesses of her mind.

“Never!” she cried, lashing out wildly with the saber.

He drew back, startled, as her swing grazed him, tracing a shallow arc across his beak. “We’re not done yet!” he snapped, flipper flinging drops of crimson blood onto the pure, white snow.

“You’re a monster!” she yelled, as he waddled forward, unblinking eyes fixed on her.

Rey shuffled backwards, almost tripping over a crack in the ice. When he was nearly upon her, she stabbed her saber down through the break, releasing a sudden explosion of steam, glowing blue between them.

As the ice shook, and the fissure grew wider, Rey dove to her belly and slid away as fast as she could. From a distance, she heard him call out, “You haven’t seen the last of Kylo Renguin!”

Once Rey was sure she was alone again, she resumed her northward vigil. Mournfully, she called out her heartsong, a question into the darkness. As usual, only the wind and waves replied.

###  **II. Spring**

The great Luke Rockhopper was supposed to give her answers.

The year’s first hint of sunlight lapped at the horizon as Rey began the long and perilous journey to the Rockhopper temple on Macquarie Island. When she finally reached the old master and presented him with his long lost fish saber, he’d merely glanced at it in puzzlement for a moment before tossing it to the sea. (She immediately dove in to retrieve it, of course!)

After two days of following him around the island, watching him preen his golden crest and pick krill from his beak, Rey felt more lost than ever. She’d have to return to the mainland and seek her own path.

Before departing, she approached him with one final question: “What do you know about Kylo Renguin?”

Rockhopper wiped the frothy remnants of a cup of humpback milk from his face and looked up at her with remorseful eyes.

“Before he became what he is now, he was my student, Ben Gentoo,” he recounted. “I thought I could train him in the ways of the Flow, but I didn’t see the darkness growing within him until it was too late. He serves Supreme Emperor Penguintine now.”

“Perhaps he could be brought back to the light side?” Rey wondered.

Rockhopper’s brow furrowed and his crest stood on edge. “Kylo Renguin destroyed everything that was once dear to me, and he’ll do the same to you if you let him,“ he snapped. “Leave this island, now!”

\--------

Rey was near famished by the time she returned to the mainland, and so went diving for silverfish just off the shore. Upon catching her meal, she carried it back up to the ice, but nearly choked when she spotted Kylo waiting for her there.

“Why is the Flow connecting us? You and I,” he mused.

“Murderous shark!” she snapped. “You’re too late. You lost. I found Rockhopper.”

“Did he tell you what happened?” he pressed.

“I know everything I need to know about you!” she retorted.

“You do? Ah, you do,” he responded, knowingly. “You have that look in your eyes. From when you called me a monster.”

“You are a monster,” she spat.

“Yes, I am,” he replied, coldly.

Rey held his gaze for a long moment, desperately trying to hide her fear. She wanted to dive back into the sea, to vanish in the deep, cold water. Yet something in his black eyes held her there, promising the answers she most desired.

Abruptly, he broke off their connection to stare down into the water, a worried expression spreading across his face. A second later, she sensed it too, a terrible darkness reaching up from far beneath.

Rey’s mind had just begun to grasp its shape when, without warning, Kylo lunged at her! His beak slammed into her chest, knocking her into the water, just as a giant rathtar seal sprang onto the ice. The fearsome creature wrapped a tentacle around Kylo, pulling him towards its jagged maw.

Underwater, Rey quickly recovered from the shock of Kylo’s blow, and, without thinking, rocketed up towards the beast. Leaping from the water, she drew her fish saber midair and slashed! The seal let out an ear-splitting squeal and retreated from the ice, leaving its would-be prey (and several severed tentacles) behind.

Kylo lay motionless in an expanding circle of red ice. Rey grabbed his flipper in her beak and shuffled towards a small cave in the nearby cliff. Releasing him onto the cave floor, she inspected his injuries. A gruesome gash ran the length of his pink-stained belly, but he was still breathing fitfully.

Gathering kelp and snow from outside, she quickly dressed the wound and stood back. His condition seemed stable for now, but he wouldn’t survive for long on his own in this state.

Rey knew she should leave him there to die; let the world be rid of a penguin that had caused so much suffering.

And yet…he had saved her. Why?

As she studied him, he stirred slightly. Still unconscious, his beak parted, like a hatchling waiting to accept his mother’s first meal.

Then with a small, fragile voice, he sang his heartsong.

Rey gasped. It was immediately familiar to her. The cadence nearly identical to her own, but with a descending inflection. As he continued his faint call, she joined with her song, creating a delicate harmony. An answer to a question she hadn’t known to ask.

They belonged together.

Hearing her song seemed to soothe Kylo, and his breathing steadied, but he still lay with his beak agape. Eyes closed, Rey leaned in close, feeling his breath against her face.

She opened her beak…and regurgitated the partially digested silverfish into his mouth.

###  **III. Summer**

The days grew longer until the sun no longer dipped below the horizon. Rey continued visiting Kylo in the cave every day, watching his strength slowly recover.

“Can’t you find any squid?” he questioned as she withdrew her beak from his, having delivered the day’s meal.

“I have to go,” she answered coldly, turning toward the cave’s exit.

“Still waiting for them?” he scoffed. “Your parents threw you away like garbage.”

“They didn’t!” she snapped, turning back towards him.

“They did. But you can’t stop needing them. It’s your greatest weakness. Looking for them everywhere.”

Rey deflated, sensing the truth of his words. “I thought I’d find answers on the island. I was wrong. I’ve never felt so alone.”

Kylo gazed up at her intently. “You’re not alone.”

“Neither are you,” she replied, meeting his eyes.

They sat in silence for a moment before, at last, Rey drew in a slow breath, and sang her heartsong for him. Her mind flooded with memories of a young chick calling out for her parents, only to be met with silence.

But this time there was an answer.

Kylo joined her song with his own in perfect harmony. His voice no longer had the frailty of their first duet, instead possessing a strength and assuredness that seemed to exert a force on her whole body. She drew closer to him, tail quivering with anticipation of his touch.

Their bodies pressed together, flippers exploring every recess of the other’s feathers. Rey felt a heat building within her cloaca and moved to slide on top of him, but Kylo winced as she brushed against his still sore wound. She drew back, worried she had reinjured him, but he gave her a playful bite on the flipper, signaling her to lie on her belly.

Their beaks entwined in passionate kisses as he climbed onto her, slowly waddling backwards towards her tail. She felt her heartbeat pulsing through her entire body as he grasped her hips firmly with his flippers.

The instant their cloacas touched was an explosion. Her high pitched cry met with his deep moan in a moment of ecstasy before they both collapsed in a tangled pile of feathers.

Once he was able to catch his breath, Kylo spoke: “why have you been helping me, after all I’ve done?”

“I feel the conflict in you,” Rey answered, nestling her head against the soft down at the base of his neck. “It’s tearing you apart. You will turn against the Supreme Emperor. I’ll help you.”

He sat up and held her flippers earnestly, “It's time to let old things die. The emperors, the rockhoppers, the gentoo; let it all die. Rey. I want you to join me. We can rule together and bring a new order to the continent!”

She released her flippers and stepped back. “Don't do this, Ben. Please don't go this way.”

He pressed on: “No, no. You're still holding on! Let go! Do you want to know the truth about your parents? Or have you always known, and you've just hidden it away? You know the truth. Say it. Say it!”

“They were nobody,” she intoned meekly.

“They were filthy fish traders who sold you off for chum money. They're dead at the bottom of the ocean. You have no place in this story. You come from nothing. You're nothing. But not to me. Join me. Please.”

She retreated from the cave, sliding into the ocean to wash away her tears.

###  **IV. Fall**

Sun and horizon neared their annual reunion as Rey surveyed the emperor penguin colony. She spotted several members of the Supreme Emperor’s guard patrolling the perimeter, their blood red plumes a warning to all who would dare cross their master. Even in the dim twilight, it would be difficult for her to enter undetected.

Then she saw her way in. Approaching from the north was a group of female emperors, returning to their newborn chicks with bellies full of life-giving fish. Stealthily, she joined their ranks, waddling up from behind the pack.

The guards paid them little attention as they entered the colony and began calling out their heartsongs, desperately hoping to find their chicks and mates amongst the sea of near identical birds. Rey joined them, casting her song into the air and straining her ears for the answer she longed to hear one more time.

Abruptly, Rey felt a powerful flipper grip her shoulder and inhaled sharply, preparing to fight her way free of one of the red guards.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” said a brusque voice, barely above a whisper.

She turned to look him in the eyes. “There’s something I need to give you, Ben,” she said, solemnly. “Where can we be alone?”

His eyes narrowed as he studied her intently for a long moment before turning away with a sigh. “Follow me,” he commanded, leading her towards an outcropping a short distance away.

When they were out of sight from the rest of the colony, he spun to face her. “Give me one reason why I don’t bring you to Penguintine right now!” he fumed.

“Here’s your reason,” she replied calmly, lifting her brood pouch to reveal a single, cream-colored egg.

Beak agape, he stared at the fragile egg as Rey gently rolled it onto his feet. Without thinking, he tucked it into his own pouch and looked up at her.

“Why did you bring this here?” he reprimanded.

“Our son needs his father to incubate him,” she stated.

“Son?”

“Yes. Don’t you sense it?”

Kylo paused, allowing the weight of her words to sink in. “If the Supreme Emperor learns that you and I have a child, then all three of us will be seal bait…or worse. He’ll never allow such a challenge to his power to go unchecked!”

“Power? What do you mean? You said it yourself, I’m nothing; my parents were no one.”

“Your parents were no one. They chose to be. To keep you safe.”

“Safe from what?”

“It was Penguintine who had your parents taken. He was looking for you. But they wouldn’t say where you were.”

“But why would he want me?”

“Because he saw what you would become. You don’t just have power. You have his power. You’re his granddaughter. You are a Penguintine.”

His words hit her like a ton of ice. She faltered for a moment, searching her feelings for any sign that what he said wasn’t true.

At last, Rey regained her composure. “Then I know what must be done,” she declared. “Just promise me you’ll keep our son safe.”

\--------

Dark clouds swirled above the icy path leading to Supreme Emperor Penguintine’s chamber, high atop Mt. Vinson. Rey waddled cautiously in from the bitter wind, approaching the decrepit penguin seated on the throne at the center of the room.

“Long have I waited for my grandchild to come home,” orated the wizened Emperor, a wicked smile crossing his face. “I never wanted you dead. I wanted you here…Empress Penguintine.”

“I haven’t come here to join you, I’ve come here to end you!” she declared.

“No. Your hatred, your anger. You want to kill me? That is what I want. Kill me and my spirit will pass into you, Empress. We will be one.”

“All you want is for me to hate, but I won’t. Not even you.”

“Weak. Like your parents,” he sneered. “Very well. If you will not claim your birthright, then perhaps your son will. Come to me, Kylo Renguin!”

“Yes, my master,” Kylo responded, stepping forward from the shadows.

“Ben, no!” Rey shouted, lunging towards her mate.

Lightning erupted from the Supreme Emperor’s flippers! Rey’s body writhed as she fell to the ground, the bolts a dissonant, biting melody drowning out all other sensations. She reached for her fish saber, only to watch it fly from her grasp and land at the base of the throne.

“Foolish girl,” Penguintine cackled, reveling in every painful blast he sent into her body. “When I am reborn in your child, I will be the ultimate power on this continent.”

He turned to Kylo, “Bring me the egg!”

Kylo waddled forward, head bowed. Rey could only watch in horror as he lifted his belly to reveal…

…a fish saber?

It sparked to life with a brilliant green blade as he slashed towards the Supreme Emperor, diverting the lightning towards himself.

“Help me, Rey!” he called. “Rey…please!”

But Rey remained motionless on the floor of the chamber.

Ben tried to press his saber closer to strike at Penguintine, but a final blast from the old penguin’s flippers sent him flying across the room.

Penguintine howled with vile laughter.

For Rey, the room was spinning. The world grew silent as afterimages of lightning danced across her eyes. She saw herself lying there, as if floating from above. Then she was flying away from that place.

Across the ice.

Across the sea.

Approaching an island.

She saw a golden-crested penguin, serenely seated high atop a sheer cliff.

Luke Rockhopper spoke to her for the last time:

“Rey, the Flow will be with you…always.”

He called out his heartsong, a tune strange and melancholy.

She felt his strength flowing into her and sensed him fading from existence, a wry smile on his beak.

Gracefully, she rose to her feet and began waddling towards the throne.

“What!? You are nothing!” the Supreme Emperor raged.

He raised his flippers to summon more lightning, determined to end her completely this time. But before the bolts could reach her, she reached out with the Flow, calling both fish sabers to her flippers.

Crossing the blue and green blades, she pushed back against Penguintine’s bolts. The once dark chamber glowed with the combined lights of sabers and lightning.

The Supreme Emperor redoubled the intensity of his assault with an otherworldly shriek, but Rey waddled forward, undaunted.

Reaching the base of the throne, she glared directly into his sunken eyes. “No, you are nothing!” she thundered, driving the twin sabers into his chest.

Penguintine’s wail echoed throughout the chamber as his withered body disintegrated, his remains scattering in the icy wind.

The last of her energy spent, Rey collapsed, her vacant eyes staring at the ceiling.

Nearly exhausted, Ben slid on his belly towards her, using one flipper to drag himself across the floor. Reaching his mate, he cradled her head and spoke to her softly.

“Hear me Rey,” he pleaded. “I’m here now. You were right about me. Please…come back to me.”

Tears slid down his cheeks, turning to icicles in the bitter cold. Ben nuzzled his beak to her ear. In a delicate, broken voice, he sang his heartsong to her one final time.

With a tremble, her beak parted the slightest bit. She let out the barest hint of a sigh, but it was enough. Ben knew she was trying to answer his song with her own. He closed his eyes tightly and steeled himself for what he now knew he must do.

Ben gathered everything he had left, concentrating his strength in the pit of his stomach.

Looking Rey in the eye and pressing their beaks together, Ben regurgitated his all into her mouth.

Rey instinctively accepted his offering.

A moment later, she shot upright with a gasp, feeling warmth spread through her body.

She turned to Ben. “You came!…where’s Ben Junior?”

He smiled meekly, hearing her choice of name.

“With my Aunt Gentoo. He’s safe.”

Rey eyed the unfamiliar fish saber that Ben had brought.

“It was my mother’s,” he explained, following her gaze. “I think she would want you to have it.”

Rey’s expression turned to distress as she looked back at Ben to see the life draining from his eyes.

“Ben…no!” she cried. “Stay with me!”

With his last breath he implored her, “Rey…tell our son…I…”

Sobbing, she held his lifeless body tightly.

“I know, Ben…I know.”

###  **V. Epilogue**

It was snowing on the Antarctic peninsula. An elderly gentoo penguin sat on the ice, preening a fluffy chick between her feet.

“Look, Auntie!” called the chick, pointing towards a dark figure approaching through the moonlit flurries.

“Who are you?” the elder penguin called, clutching the chick closely.

“I’m Rey.”

“Rey who?” queried the curious chick.

“It doesn’t matter…but you can call me ‘Mommy,’” she answered, and began sweetly singing their song.

The jubilant chick leapt forward, nearly tripping over his oversized feet, and joined her in song. Rey lifted him in her flippers and gently nuzzled his beak.

“…and I’m never leaving you again.”


End file.
